The position of religious malays films in Malaysia from the perspectives of Islamic Da’wah

Abstract

Malay films that directly brought up the questions of Islam in Malaysia are produced in varieties of genres and are different. Based on the Malay film genre from the 2005-2010 statistics, there are only a few films that embed the elements of religion in the movie directly. The religious genre kind of films from the Western movie producers like to expose issues on god and Christianity. This can be seen from the films like The Ten Commandments (1956), The Passion of Christ (2004), Leap of Faith (1992), Da Vinci Code (2006) and 2012 (2009). Nevertheless Islamic cinemas such as in Indonesia and Iran have never stopped in making and producing religious films as to show their struggle towards the missionary cause of the new millennium by producing movies like Dalam Mihrab Cinta (In Mihrab Love) (2010), Ketika Cinta Bertasbih 1&2 (When Love Says A Prayer) (2009), Emak Ingin Naik Haji (Mother Wants to Perform Haj) (2009), Children of Heaven (1997) and The Song of Sparrows (2008). In the effort to vary the medium of Da’wah, the film is seen as a new and influential way that can be explored. Therefore, this article is looking at the importance of discussing the position of religious Malay films in Malaysia as seen as the contributory factor in its role towards the medium of preaching of Islamic Da’wah.